


the snow used to make me feel at home (but now it's covering your eyes)

by vanillabeans_and_cococups



Series: ninjago drabble requests [3]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, I don't want to spoil shit with these tags, It's angst, M/M, it’s worth it I promise, sorry B
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-05
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2019-05-18 16:41:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14856411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillabeans_and_cococups/pseuds/vanillabeans_and_cococups
Summary: "I believe this is a perfect example of irony, wouldn't you agree?"A mirthless laugh peeled from the other's lips, shattering the remains of silence like a mirror. "Spot on, as always," he responded emptily, distractedly focused on a spot by the other's chest.Zane finally turned his head towards Cole, the dry dirt below shifting under the movement. "Do not worry, love. Help will be along soon."





	the snow used to make me feel at home (but now it's covering your eyes)

**Author's Note:**

> What sort of overhyped, purely power-servicing, and full of improbable scenarios AU does this take place in, you may ask? Heck if I know. Everything is done for ~ p l o t c o n v e n i e n c e ~ and little else.

_The snow fell delicately around two bodies, twisting and pitching in graceful, chaotic paths. The closer to the ground they got, the more frantic their paths became—as if the world's serenity had suddenly been broken and the ground was revealed to bring nothing but an inescapable end._ One of the bodies was dark, just like the earth, and if one glanced close enough, one would see that he shared the same sharp, foreboding features in his face and stature as the dirt beneath his knees. The other figure was more akin to the snowflakes themselves, every feature stretching from his eyes to his robes a glittering white, that somehow managed to draw the attention away from the brilliance of the snow in the air. This man was not sitting upright like his partner, and instead had his body laid back against the earth, eyes fixed on the sky. The snow never touched his face—or any other part of him for that matter—seemingly melting before it reached his pale skin.

A bubble of sorts had formed around the two, the snow unable to make contact with the patch of earth they were occupying. The darker man pushed his fingers into the dirt at his sides, and the circle grew bigger. Neither spoke.

The one on the ground broke the silence first.

"I believe this is a perfect example of irony, wouldn't you agree?"

A mirthless laugh peeled from the other's lips, shattering the remains of silence like a mirror. "Spot on, as always," he responded emptily, distractedly focused on a spot by the other's chest.

Zane finally turned his head towards Cole, the dry dirt below shifting under the movement. "Do not worry, love. Help will be along soon."

Cole didn't dare dignify the gentle reassurance with an answer, lest he break down right then and there, and simply dropped his chin against his chest and pushed his hands farther down into the ground.

"How long do you have?" He managed after a few minutes passed.

The android spared a glance down at his chest, at a place that seemed impossibly ripped open and glowing. It was the only spot on his figure that allowed him to be separated completely from the snow, his steely silver juxtaposing to the pure cotton white of the ice, and sparking in ways that were far from natural.

"Plenty of time, plenty of time," was his half-whispered response.

Anger grew in the Cole's face, and for the first time the conversation reached a volume above the wind whistling in the trees. "Don't _bullshit_ me, Zane! I'm not going to—you _know_ what will happen if this damn water gets in your systems!" He hissed. Then, more resigned:

"We can't keep this up forever," he said, eyes squeezing shut as he let a little more of his power seep into the ground, warming the Earth to a temperature just above welcome for the snow. Just above death.

The white one remained quiet, and the  
snow seemed to echo his response, falling slower and giving the impression that time itself was halting as well.

One could hope.

"You mustn't overexert yourself," Zane finally replied, nodding slightly at the tattered black cloth that hung loosely at Cole's own chest.

"Don't worry about me. It's nothing," he said, shifting his body away from Zane's line of sight—or at least attempting to, as at such a motion he felt a stabbing pain inside his chest and he was left gasping for breath, his fists clenching and pushing deep divots into the ground.

"Cole," the android reprimanded, "You have broken ribs and possibly a punctured lung, not to mention the other numerous minor injures you must have sustained during bat—"

"You are quite literally spilling your guts before my eyes, Zane," Cole interrupted, voice wobbly, his frustration subdued yet still laced through every word. "Let me... just... take care of you for once."

It took all of his willpower to bring his eyes back over to Zane's wound, reassessing the damage and scouring for anything fixable he might have missed earlier. The tear in Zane's metal torso was large enough to span most of his body's width, the teeth of the mace having gone almost completely across the expanse of his stomach in one swiftly-dealt swipe. In place of blood and organs, pieces of twisted and burnt metal peeled around and within the wound—the plating that once covered the area was now little more than scraps scattered across the snowy landscape.

To any other member of the team, the blow would have been fatal.

According to Zane, nothing vital had been hit, and their only obstacle remained in keeping his inner-workings dry and free of snow. However, Cole was not blind, and the sporadic flicker in the android's eyes were clear signs of a much more serious problem. Further still, Cole found himself painfully aware of the increasing amount of flurries that were slipping through the confines of Zane's shield around the two of them.

"Irony," Zane hummed again, turning his face into the ground and closing his eyes peacefully, looking every bit as if he was simply turning in for a night's rest. The motion scared Cole, the goodnight looking far to much like a goodbye.

"No no no no no no," he murmured, bowing his head down to meet Zane's warm forehead, gently pressing their noses together. "You're not allowed to do that on my watch, Sparky. Not today. Not ever."

Zane obediently opened his eyes. He was met with tight lips puffed from over-worrying, and both emerald eyes he loved so much obscured from view, squeezed shut against the pain (though who's he couldn't be sure). _Irony_ , he thought again, at Cole's thoughtless participation in the act he had prohibited only a moment before. The humor of the situation bubbled to his lips. If he were not a robot, and thus incapable of making such vocal errors, the laugh would have come out choked.

Cole finally opened his eyes at the sound, and, _Ah, there they were_. Zane couldn't help but trace the paths in Cole's irises, thin trails of gold and brown weaving throughout that made them look like travelled mountain ranges at sunrise. He knew this because he had spend many a hours staring into them, and many more still contemplating what exactly they reminded him of.

Zane always loved Cole's eyes, because they were the one window to his soul he never was able to close off to the rest of the world. His words and body always remained stoic, always a front placed to _protect_ and to _guard_ what was on the inside, but if one knew just where to look, and just exactly how to gain his trust so he would look back, his story could be read as easily as if it had been yearning to be for its entire life.

"Your eyes were closed."

Another shattering laugh from Cole, this time quieter, as if he had become aware of the dangers of doing so. "Yeah, well, I don't count in this situation." Zane let the unfairness of the statement slide, reading into the double meaning between the words. He looked back into green eyes, and willingly remained taciturn when they inevitably slid closed again.

Cole inhaled heavily, as if building up to say something of vital, world changing importance. For all Zane knew or cared, he was.

Cole didn't speak immediately, and instead he pressed their foreheads closer together. If they tried hard enough, it seemed he believed, he could meld their bodies and souls into one. He exhaled.

"When we get out of this—"

"Cole,—"

" _When_ we get out of this, marry me."

The question shocked Zane's slowing and sluggish systems, and he turned his head in disbelief. His first instinct was to upbraid Cole, berate the timing and reasoning and a million other things that could be found faulty with the circumstances of the question, but those notions dissipated almost immediately upon looking at Cole's face. At the tears he was valiantly fighting to keep back, and the slight tremor of his jaw tight against his cheek. At every blemish and freckle that Zane had mapped and loved through the years. At those eyes that never failed to follow him through both the good and the bad.

All these things made the answer so simple and obvious he almost began to berate himself. He carefully stretched out a hand to gently wipe away the tear that was tracing it's way down to Cole's lips, and took a deep breath.

"There was never any other answer but yes."

**Author's Note:**

> From a tumblr request for "Zane and Cole + marriage proposal". Comment below any drabble requests you might have!


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